Pomeroy council seat remains vacant

POMEROY — Pomeroy Council moved quickly through mostly administrative items in its Monday meeting.

Newly appointed Councilman John Musser took his seat for the first time, with his term to last until December 2019.

Council continued the search for the second vacant council seat, as members expressed a desire to fill the seat for quality, not expediency.

“These are important roles for the village. Just like the Building Inspector position, you don’t want to appoint someone just to fill it, you want someone who will do some good,” said Mayor Don Anderson.

The seat remaining to be filed is fro a term expiring at the end of 2017.

John Lehew of the Eagles told council the group intended “to host the Sternwheel Regatta from now on.”

“We are a civic organization first, so we want to keep Pomeroy vibrant,” he said during discussion of the resurrected festival, which had been canceled for lack of volunteer commitment. The traditional date has been changed to the Sep. 22-23 due to conflict with other events, but Lehew was optimistic about attendance.

Council members expressed they were pleased to see the long standing event continue.

“I’m very happy about it,” said Anderson.

Council endorsed a recommendation to utilize STAR Project for supplementary labor on miscellaneous cleanup tasks around town. The state drug rehabilitation program provides laborers as part of their community service or court arrangements.

Anderson gave an update on riverbank stabilization following a Sept.15 visit by Congressman Johnson to view a collapsing section of riverbank near the Pomeroy Municipal Building. Anderson said the Ohio Department of Transportation was also involved, as the area of concern includes a section of Ohio 833. A conference call is scheduled to further address the matter.

For more on Johnson’s visit see the related article on page 1 of today’s edition.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of Pomeroy Village Council is Thursday, Sept. 7, to account for the Labor Day holiday.